There are eight NBA regular season games scheduled for Saturday and we have three best bets for the day’s basketball action. The first tips off at 11am AEDT and that timeslot sees the Rockets at Pistons matchup which looks a great clash. Let's get stuck into our best bets for the Saturday NBA slate below!
NBA Betting Tips: Saturday, January 24th 2026
Houston Rockets at Detroit Pistons (11:00am AEDT)
The Saturday slate kicks off with a battle between two of the better teams in the NBA: the Houston Rockets (26-15) are fourth in the West and take on Detroit Pistons (32-10) who sit first in the East. It’s a back-to-back for the visiting Rockets who play the Philadelphia 76ers prior to the Pistons game. Detroit won on the road 112-104 against the New Orleans Pelicans in their most recent game, led by Jalen Duren’s 20 points and 15 rebounds.
With the extra rest and returning home, where the Pistons are 17-4, they look extremely hard to beat. The Rockets are also 11-12 on the road which doesn’t bode well for them. A lot will hinge on the health of Cade Cunningham for Detroit – it may be best to wait until closer to game time to see if Cunningham plays. They can still win without him, but the -3.0 line should move if Cunningham becomes unavailable.
The Pistons are rolling this season, proving they are legitimate title contenders, built around a strong team defense – that was the hallmark of the 2004 championship-winning Pistons led by Ben Wallace, and coach JB Bickerstaff is instilling that same mould here – the 2025-26 Pistons rank second in the league. They are also in the top half of the league offensively. I’m backing Ausar Thompson, Duren and Isaiah Stewart to get enough stops in order to beat the Rockets.
Pistons -3.0
$1.90 (2 Units)
Boston Celtics at Brooklyn Nets (11:30am AEDT)
The Brooklyn Nets (12-30) were embarrassed last game, scoring just 66 points in a loss that saw the New York Knicks finish with 120. It won’t get any easier as the Boston Celtics (27-16) come to town in a game that could very well be lopsided early. Despite Jayson Tatum not playing a game this season due to injury, his second-in-command, Jaylen Brown, has stepped up as the leader for the team, averaging a career-high 29.8 points. The four-time All-Star is about to receive his fifth nod and will be a starter for the All-Star game this season.
It comes as no surprise that the Celtics make the second-most threes per game in the league with 15.6. That blueprint was evident last season as they led the league, and coach Joe Mazzulla is happy for Boston to live-and-die from beyond the arc. If they can find rhythm from deep early, it could be a long night for the Nets who are in the bottom third defensively in defensive rating.
The Celtics play at the slowest pace in the NBA, but this methodical style of play sees them commit just 11.4 turnovers per contest, the best in the NBA. Despite Derrick White not playing, expect Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons, Sam Hauser and co. to pick up the slack in White’s absence and they can win this by double digits.
Celtics -8.5
$1.87 (2 Units)
Denver Nuggets at Milwaukee Bucks (1:30pm AEDT)
This matchup is normally a must-watch between two future Hall of Fame big men in Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Unfortunately, Jokic is out with injury, but we still get Giannis, and he may be fired up after an abysmal 122-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Milwaukee Bucks (18-25) chemistry looked out of sorts, with the superstar forward implying teammates were selfish in the loss. Giannis only took 11 shots, finishing with 19 points and 14 rebounds. The visiting Denver Nuggets (29-15) may face Antetokounmpo’s wrath, and it should be expected that the former two-time MVP will be aggressive.
Ryan Rollins was poor in the loss and he is likely to bounce back here, where he is having a breakout season averaging 16 points and 5.5 assists per game. For the Nuggets, it is a back-to-back as they are playing the Washington Wizards on the road. Jamal Murray will be the driving force for the offense but will have some good support with Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson consistent contributors on the offensive end.
With the Nuggets playing the second night of the back-to-back and Giannis likely to make a statement, the Bucks look a strong chance of covering the -4.5 line.
Bucks -4.5
$1.90 (2 Units)
